So much for the 'shoots wolves from helicopters' myth

Unintended consequences
*
Some left wing bloggers may be starting to realize that the Palin emails they fought relentlessly to have released are not the silver bullets they had hoped for to use to destroy the object of their hatred. Information contained in the documents, in fact, provides contradictory evidence to one of the many myths they have perpetuated about Sarah Palin.

The emails shatter the mythological image of a bloodthirsty Sarah Palin, assault rifle in hand, maniacally pursing Alaskan wolves from the skid of a black helicopter, fiendishly laughing as she slaughters the poor creatures. Lefty bloggers have been pushing that one for years. But, according to the liberal Washington Post, the emails prove otherwise:

The governor told her fish and game commissioner in blunt terms that she opposed using state helicopters to hunt wolves and preferred paying private hunters.

“We have to act quickly on this as predators are acting quickly and rural families face ridiculous situation of being forced to import more beef instead of feeding their families our healthy staple of alaskan game. Nonsense. Unacceptable - and not on my watch,” she said.

Her source of information? “Todd interviewed buddies who live out there... Some confirmation that state intervention isn’t first choice w/the locals,” Palin said.”We need to incentivize here,” including providing money for trappers.

Governor Palin did indeed strongly support predator control, and she clearly favored paying hunters a bounty to keep the wolf population in check, but the image of her personally shooting the predators from aircraft has finally been shot down. The emails also show that her motivation for keeping the wolf population at manageable levels was her concern for the welfare of Alaska's rural families who depend so heavily on caribou and moose, the wolves' prey, for food and warm clothing.

Another email demonstrates Gov. Palin's opposition to hunting bears in the McNeil River Bear Sanctuary:

"I am a hunter. I grew up hunting - some of my best memories growing up are of hunting with my dad to help feel (sic) our freezer. I want Alaskans to have access to wildlife...BUT - he's asking if I support hunting the bears in the sanctuary? No, I don't... I don't know any Alaskans who do support hunting the McNeil bears that frequent the viewing area. Many Alaskan and Outside visitors view these animals on the McNeil river, within the sanctuary, and, as my parents have reported back after their viewing trip, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see such beauty on that river."

Ashley Judd, please pick up the red phone. It's Defenders of Wildlife on the line, and they're in panic mode.

- JP

Palins honored at Stryker welcome home ceremony

From a report by Anchorage television station KTUU:

In Fairbanks, more than 4,000 soldiers with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th infantry division were honored Thursday.

It was standing room only at the redeployment ceremony at the Carlson Center to welcome home the men and women who spent the past 12 months in Iraq.

[...]

"Standing before you and throughout this arena are the combat-tested warriors of the Arctic Wolves, the best Stryker brigade combat team in the United States Army, and the finest soldiers our Army has ever seen," said Col. Burt Thompson, the Brigade's commander.

The soldiers were recognized for their bravery and commitment to helping Operation Iraqi Freedom, but today's ceremony was also meant to honor those wounded in battle and those who lost their lives.

It also served to say "thank you" to everyone who helps support the brigade.

"To Sarah Palin who for the last year was the senior mom of the brigade," said Thompson.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, were recognized as distinguished members of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which their son, Track, is part of.

"Ma'am, thanks for being here today and for allowing your son to serve in our brigade," Thompson said.

[...]

Soldiers said when they left Iraq, it was more stable than when they got there a year ago. Col. Thompson summed up the past year in two words: mission accomplished.

Video and still photos after the jump.

- JP

Sarahy Palin was right: Herds rebound under predator control

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released its 2008-2009 predation management summary showing that moose and caribou herds in six predator control areas have increased:

The agency points to two areas in particular as examples of where the program is showing strong results: the Nelchina Basin area and the southern Alaska Peninsula.

The program is getting substantive results in the McGrath area, where it began in December 2003. Last winter and spring, 28 wolves were killed in the McGrath area. Nineteen were taken under the program and nine were hunted and trapped.

The agency said the moose population there has grown from 2,774 in 2004 to an estimated 5,500 moose now. The goal is to reach 6,000 to 8,000 moose.

Former governor Sarah Palin was targeted by animal rights activist groups for continuing the program, which was initiated by her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski. During the fall 2008 presidential contest, the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund sponsored an advertising campaign against then-Governor Palin, the GOP vice-presidential candidate, for expanding the program. Featuring actor Ashley Judd, the ad portrayed Palin as a heartless enemy of lovable, furry wolves who promoted the practice of hunting down the animals from aircraft just for the fun of it. The predator control program allows private citizens who obtain the proper permits to shoot wolves from the air or conduct land-and-shoot hunting of wolves in six rural areas of the state.  

But Palin in fact expanded the predator control program to help rural and native Alaskans who depend on hunting caribou and moose to survive. Those Alaskans had complained that the herd numbers had decreased to the point where there wasn't enough game for them to hunt and feed their families. 

The problem is that wolves, and to a lesser extent bears, are such efficient hunters that they had decimated the herd numbers. Compounding the problem is the fact that wolves give birth to litters of usually four or more pups, while moose and caribou calves are almost exclusively the products of single births. That the herd populations have recovered in the areas where wolf hunting was allowed is a vindication of former Governor Palin's policies. 

Alaska is not the only state which has predator control issues. Last week a U.S. District Court Judge ruled that gray wolf hunts could continue in Idaho and Montana:

U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy says wildlife groups are failing to show "irreparable harm" from Montana and Idaho wolf hunts, so he will not block hunters from killing the predators.

On Wednesday, Molloy announced his ruling to allow the gray wolf hunts to continue in the Northern Rockies, the first organized wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana in decades.

The problem in the Northern Rockies is that the wolves are killing off the local elk population at an alarming rate. But farm animals are also the victims of the wolf packs, one of which recently killed 120 sheep in one night on a ranch near Dillon, MT.

Update: At Sweetness & Light, Steve Gilbert quotes a Salon piece by Mark Benjamin to illustrate just how wrong the watermelons* were on this issue as they used it to slam Sarah Palin. Think we'll be seeing a mea culpa from Benjamin or other wolf huggers anytime soon? Don't count on it.

*(Watermelons are green on the outside, pink on the inside) 

- JP